- The Community and Comecon
* The negotiations
The Community has long shown its willingness to establish
relations with Comecon itself, alongside the bilateral
agreements with the Comecon member countries (**).
Negotiations for the conclusion of an agreement between the
Community and Comecon began in 1977 but were broken off in 1980
by mutual agreement. At that point the main stumbling block
for the Community was Comecon's insistence on including trade
provisions in the agreement and setting up a joint committee
responsible for the general supervision of bilateral relations
with the member countries of Comecon. This was unacceptable
since Comecon does not possess either a common commercial
policy nor a common commercial policy instrument.
In 1981 Mr Wilhelm HAFERKAMP, Member of the Commission with
special responsibility for external relations, sent a letter to
the President of the Executive Committee of Comecon, Mr Andrei
LOUKANOV, expressing the Community's readiness to participate
in the constructive resumption of dialogue. This letter
remained unanswered.
* A fresh start ?
Since 1984 there have been a number of indications which, taken
together, have suggested that Comecon wished to resume the
talks. In June 1984 the Comecon summit meeting expressed the
organization's wish to conclude an appropriate agreement with
the Community. This approach was confirmed during the visit
for talks with Mr HAFERKAMP in October 1984 by Mr Christo
CHRISTOV, Bulgaria's Foreign Trade Minister. On 30 May 1985,
Mr Michail GORBACHOV said when speaking to Mr Bettino CRAXI
that it was time for them (i.E. the Community and Comecon) to
organize economically advantageous relations with each other.
In as much as the EEC countries operated as a political entity,
Comecon was prepared - said Mr GORBACHOV - to seek with it a
common language on specific international issues as well.
On 14 June 1985 the Commission received a letter from Mr
Viatcheslaw SYTCHOV, Secretary of Comecon, suggesting the
establishment of relations between Comecon and the Community
and also a high-level meeting at which a general EEC-Comecon
declaration would be adopted.
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(*) Known officially as the CMEA - Council for Mutual
Economic Assistance.
(**) 10 members : USSR, German Democratic Republic, Poland,
Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Mongolia,
Cuba and Viet Nam.
- 2 -
Replying to the Secretary of Comecon on behalf of the Community
on 31 July 1985, Mr Willy DE CLERCQ confirmed the Community's
readiness to resume dialogue with Comecon but asked that the
latter should amplify its position with regard to the content
of the proposed declaration. Mr DE CLERCQ also pointed out
that the Community still felt that the resumption of relations
with Comecon should not affect the Community's present and
future relations with the member countries of Comecon and he
asked Mr SYTCHOV to indicate Comecon's view on this matter.
In his reply of 26 September last year Mr SYTCHOV said that the
signing of the declaration and the development of cooperation
between the two organizations could create more favourable
conditions for the development of relations between the member
countries of the CMEA, considered individually, and the EEC,
and that this could include the conclusion of appropriate
agreements with the EEC by interested CMEA member countries.
- The Community and the Comecon member countries
In 1974 the Community proposed the conclusion of individual
trade agreements, not only to the Comecon member countries but
to all state-trading countries. This proposal was ignored by
most of the countries approached.
Yet economic links have grown up over the years between the
Community and the Comecon countries : five textile agreements
have been concluded (with Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania
and Czechoslovakia) plus voluntary restraint arrangements on
steel exports from the same countries, and also specific
agreements on agricultural products. In addition, a trade
Agreement covering industrial products and an Agreement
establishing a joint ministerial committee were concluded with
Romania. Talks have been going on with the latter country
since 1981 with a view to the conclusion of a more
comprehensive cooperation agreement.
The Comunity remains ready to negotiate bilateral trade
agreements with each of the Comecon countries, being convinced
that such negotiations - geared to the particular situation of